Combination thresher and windrow pick-up



July25, 1933. v w. F. MacGREGOR I COMBINATION THRESHER AND WINDROW PICK 5 Sheet-Sheet 1 Original Filed Feb. 27,1926

INVENTOR z: 1962- fl/zmazwo BY ATTORNEY July 25, 1933. w. F. MacGREGOR COMBINATION THRESHER AND WINDHOW PICK-UP Original Filed Feb. 27; 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY 1 July 25,v 1933.

w. F. MacGREGOR COMBINATION THRESHER AND WINDROW PICK-UP 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Feb. 27. 1926 21%.5.

ATTORNEY v July 25, 1933.

W. F. M GREGoR COMBINATION THRESHER AND WINDROW PICK-UP Original Filed Feb. 27. 19 26 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Ti .4. .54

.HHHHIHI ATTORNEY Jul 25, 1933.

W. F. Mac GREGOR COMBINATION THRESHER AND WINDROW PICK-UP ori i l Filed Feb. 27, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY Patented July 25, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OF RACINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION COMBINATION THRESHER AND WINDROW YIGK-UP Application filed February 27, 1826, Serial No. 91,049. Renewed larch 27; 1938.

Combination harvester-threshers are especially adapted for use in regions where climatic conditions are conducive to the uniform ripening or maturing ofsmall grain, such as wheat and the like, so that the crop may be sufliciently ripened and dried to permit of its being cut and threshed at one operation of the combined traveling machinery throu h the field, which method is recognized as ighly economical in that not only considerable time and labor are saved,

but material saving of grain is accomplished for the reason that-in this manner of cutting and threshing frequent handling and consequent shattering of the grain is avoided, whereas in localities where the practice prevails of cutting, binding and shocking the grain, and then hauling it to a thresher stationed at a distant point, serious loss of grain occurs incident to the various operations stated. In some regions where the combination harvester is used it occurs that the humidity or rainfall retards the uniform drying and ripening of the standing grain and prevents it from being kept in proper condition in bulk if out and. threshed at the same operation, and immediately stored, which is the practice, and, therefore, the use of the harvester-thresher, for the best results, is limited to o erations in grain sufliciently matured and ried for immediate storage, so that in fields where one or more portions of the crop has not properly matured for cutting and threshing it is quite common to leave those portions uncut until 'such ripening occurs, which necessitates the return of the machinery to harvest such remaining grain. It is the object of my invention to improve the situation explained by rendering available some of the advantages and economies of the combination harvester method to crops grown under such climatic conditions, and which may be accomplished in the manner and by the mechanisms to be described.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof Figure 1 indicates a windrow thresher embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 a plan of the same; Fig. 3 a front elevation of the thresher and a hopper used in connection therewith; Fig. 4 a plan of certain details of the windrow pick-up forming part of my improved machine; 'Fig. 5 a fragmentary section of the pick-up; Fig; 6 a front elevationbf the thresher showing said pick-u swung away therefrom; Fig. 7 a detail 0 the lower portion of said pickup showing driving connections therefor; Fig. 8 a detail of controlling mechanism for the thresher; and Fig. 9 a detail plan of the supporting member for said pick-up.

In said drawings the portions marked 5 indicate the thresher element of my improved combination machine, which thresher may be of any desired construction and arrangement, that shown being of the character disclosed in Letters Patent No. 1,568,679, issued January 5, 1926, upon my application, and which preferably embodies a feeder housing, 6, containing a conveyer, 7, into the side of which housing grain is conveyed to the thresher cylinder, 8, from which it is propelled and further separated by suitable mechanismsin the machine in a well known manner. Said thresher is mounted upon carrying wheels 9, 10, and is adapted to'be operated by a self-contained motor, 11, or otherwise. Wheels 9 are connected by a rocking axle, 12, secured to a bracket, 13, b arms or levers, 14, pivotally mounted in sai brackets and fixedly secured to said axle, in the manner and for the purpose shown and described in said patent.

At the entrance to said "feeder housing 6 I position a gravity hopper, 18, having its up r side, 19, and discharge end, 20, open, w le its bottom, 21, comprises an inclined or sloping floor by which grain discharged into said hopper will by gravity be deposited upon the conveyor 7 for delivery to the cylinder 8; and while I have chosen to illustrate and describe such means for conveying rain into the thresher I desire it to be unerstood that any practical means for the purpose may be employed such as an endless conveyer, vibrating mechanism, blower or otherwise.

In combination with said thresher 5 I employ a windrow gatherer embodying pick-up, conveying or elevating and other Russurau mechanisms. Said pick-up comprises a suitable frame, 23, having fingers, 24, secured to its lower end by the members, 25, which are attached to braces, 26 (Fig. 5), and underneath said fingers I position a drum, 27, having heads, 28, embodying hollow trunnions, 29, mounted in bearings, 30, one of said trunnions havin drivmg ears, 31, which clutch with a riving sprocket, 32. Through said trunnions 29 extends an offset shaft, 34, locked against rotation by pins, 35, which said shaft 34 constitutes a stationary crank-shaft having the portion thereof intermediate its ends, as 36, eccentric to said drum, and upon which shaft is mounted, in collars 37, a plurality of fingers, 38, adapted to revolve about said shaft as they are propelled around by the rotatin drum 27, and because of the eccentric re ation between said fingers and drum they alternately project and recede throu h said drum during its revolution. The pic -up is provided with suitable depth gaging means, such as the wheels, 39, mounted upon shaft 36, which serve to prevent the fingers 24 from gouging into the ground, which fingers preferably terminate in the rear of drum 27, in which portion of the pick-up frame I. provide a conveyer and elevator, comprising the guide rollers 40, 41, which are adapted respectively to cooperate with upper guide rollers 42, 43, in supporting and actuating belts 44, 45, in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, belt 45 preferably running around a countershaft, 47 The canvas drive-roller 40 may be driven from any convenient source on the thresher, as the sprocket, 48, con nected by chain, 49, to a sprocket, 50, on shaft, 51, of said roller. Also mounted on shaft 51 is a spur gear, 52, which drives a companion spur-gear, 53, on the end of countershaft 47, and on the opposite end of said countershaft is a sprocket, 54, about which runs a sprocket chain, 55, and connects the same to roller sprocket, 56, and drive-roller sprocket 32. By this method of driving it will be seen that the rollers 40, 41, are driven in opposite directions, so that the adjacent runs of the canvas belting engaging the grain will travel together in the ia me direction, as indicated by the arrows in To the axle 12 I secure a supporting arm, 60, by means of a universal or other coupling, as a pin 61 passing through said axle, which will permit the vertical and horizontal swinging of said arm, and which support 60 may be reinforced by a truss-brace, 62. Upon the outer end of said arm I rotatably mount a pair of carrying-arms, 63, which may be secured thereto by a swiveling sleeve, 64, mounted on shank, 65, said arms being pivotally connected, at 66, to each side of the pick-up, and connected by a brace 66, so that said arm 60 is in efiect a bifurcated 1,919,,eee

member designed to support the pick-up from the thresher, and the pick-up, being pivotally supported thereby is free to swing, and normally assumes the inclined position indicated in Fig. 1, preferably contacting with rollers, 67 at each side of hopper 18 in order that it may readily ride in relation thereto as the machinery vibrates. By this means the elevator portion of the pick-up is not only permitted to move upwardly and downwardly, but also laterally toward and away from the thresher incident to the irregular movement of the pick-up when it rocks through its connection 64 with the supporting arm 60, so that it is maintained in parallel relation to the ground regardless of the inequalities thereof which it encounters.

As hereinbefore indicated, the weight of the thresher is sustained by the rearwardly extending arms 14, so that the pick-up is counterbalanced in a manner similar to the harvester as shown in my patent referred to, and although the pick-up is substantially balanced by such weight it is not entirely counterbalanced, being of suflicient weight itself to normally remain in contact with the ground. However, when it is desired to raise the pick-up to pass obstructions in the field, or when moving from one place to another, said windrow pick-up may be readily lifted clear of the ground as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 8, by manipulating a hand-lever, 70, on the thresher, which is connected by a link, 71, to a rocker-arm, 72, secured to the thresher axle 12, by which means said axle may be rocked to vertically move the thresher and which action in turn raises or lowers the loader in directions opposite to the movements of the thresher. The entire I windrow pick-up, except the gravity hopper 18, is maintained in its relation to the thresher by a retaining link, 73, pivoted to the thresher at 74, and to the supporting arm at 75, and therefore it will be understood that as said supporting arm is hingedly connected to the axle 12 by the coupling 61 the pick-up may be swung away from the thresher, as indicated in Fig. 6, for convenient access thereto and to the thresher or motor in making adjustments or repairs.

In the circumstances hereinbefore described, where the grain is not sufficiently ripened to permit cutting and threshing all or portion of the crop by a combination harvester-thresher in the usual way, such grain may be. first cut and deposited upon the ground in windrows by a suitable machine, as is the practice in cutting hay, or such operation may be performed by one or more winders having the binding attachments removed therefrom, or a header with its elevator removed. It may be explained that where two or more binders are emplementary'to my machine, as the object in windrowing such grain is to arrange it I loosely along the ground so that it will dry and ripen quickly, and thus the harvesting operations expedited, for it will be understood that it ishighly important and generally necessary to gather and thresh the crop the moment the ripened or matured stage has arrived. As will be understood from Fig. 2, I rovide a comparatively compact combination thresher and windrowpick-up for the purpose described, and so arranged that the tractor, indicated at 76 (or animals), may be attached directly in front of the thresher, thus avoiding side draft and at the same time permitting the latter to move alongside the windrow, and as the pick-up travels into the windrow, removing the grain and delivering it into the side or feeder housing of the thresher, the crop is gathered quickly and without trampling or damage from the moving machinery, which condition will arise if the rain is delivered in a straight line from the field through the front of the thresher to its c linder. And it may be further explained t at in the use of my improved windrow thresher the pick-up element may be attached to a standard combination harvesterthresher in place of the harvester or header element thereof, so that the user of such a machine may cut a part of the crop to be deposited in windrows, and threshed by the thresher" equipped with the pick-up, and later, when the standing grain has properly matured, the pick-up may be detached from the machine and the harvester substituted therefor so that the remainder of the crop may be cut and threshed at one operation in the usual way practiced with a combination harvester-thresher.

In operation, the combination machine is so guided that the pick-up will move into the windrow while the thresher travels through the field where the grain has been cut, andas the pick-up advances, the fingers 24 pick up the loose grain-laden straws, which move along over the group of fingers, and are urged toward the elevator portion of the pick-u by the revolving fingers 38 in the drum 2 which revolving fingers pass between said fingers 24 and penetrate the straw, carrying it along as said drum rotates, each set of revolving fingers 38 after propelling the straw to the canvas belt recedin within the drum substantially as shown 1n Fig. 5, which drum, as indicated ,by the arrow, rotates in a direction opposite to that of the depth gage wheels 39. The finger members 25 are preferably made of spring material so that when fingers 24 strike obstructions they will yield and pass thereover. During such movement of the straw the elevator belts 44, 45, cooperate to convey the material upwardly and deliver the same from its mouth, 77, into the sloping hopper 18, from which it moves by gravity into the feeder-housing 6 of the thresher to be threshed and separated. While thus traveling the gage wheels 39 follow the ground inequalities and thus maintain the fingers 24 in proper relation to the soil, and,

as the pick-up is pivotally mounted upon its supporting arm, which latter is linked to the thresher as stated, it is enabled to follow the movement of the thresher without strain,

and by which means in connection with the variable coupling between said arm and the thresher I provide stable but yielding connections between the thresher and p1ck-up elements of the combination machine.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a windrow pickup, means at its forward side for removing cut grain from the soil, a revolving drum positioned rearwardly of and cooperating with said means, fingers in the drum adapted to project and recede in relation theretoi for propelling the cut grain, and means for receiving said grain from the fingers and discharging the same from the pick-up.

2. In a windrow pick-up, flexible means secured thereto and connecting the pick-up to a threshing machine, a revolving drum on the pick-up, fingers within the drum adapt-' ed to project and recede therethrough, means for rotating the drum, fingers projecting from the forward end of the pick-up for removing grain from the soil and delivering the grain to the drum, and a conveyer adjacent the drum for receiving the grain therefrom and discharging said grain from the pick-up.

3. In a windrow pick-up, a support there- I for, means for connecting the pick-up to the support, wheels mounted on the pick-up, a plurality of fingers extending forwardly from the pick-up for removing grain from the soil, a revolving drum ad acent said fingers, revolvable fingers in the drum and actuated thereby to project through said plurality of fingers for moving, rain thereover from the'forwardly exten ing fingers and to recede within said drum and disenpickup, a plurality of fingers for removing grain from the soil, a revolving drum beneath said fingers, revolvable fingersin the drum and actuated thereby to project through said plurality of fingers for moving removing material rearwardly t ereover, and

a conveyer adjacent said drum for conveying material from the latter.

6. In a machine of the character described, a support, a pick-up rockingly mounted on said support comprising stationary fingers positioned forwardly thereof in proximity to the soil, a drum adjacent and rearwardly of said fingers, revolvable fingers in the drum and actuated thereby to move grain over said stationary fingers and to recede within the drum and disengage from the grain, and elevator belts adacent the drum for receiving grain from the latter and conveying an ischarging the same from the pick-up.

7. In a machine of the class described, a thresher, a pick-up, an arm supporting the pick-up, means for pivotally connecting the arm to the thresher, and a retaining member connected to the thresher and to said supporting arm whereby the pick-up is maintained in its parallel relation to the thresher.

8. In a machine of the class described, a thresher having a rocking axle, a pick-up embodying means for removing material from the ground, an arm on the pick-up in parallel relation to the thresher, and means connecting said arm in the thresher axle whereby when the latter is rocked to raise the thresher thc pick-up arm will be simultaneously lowered.

WALLACE F. MAOGREGOR. 

